In recent years, various content reproducing apparatuses capable of reproducing contents (mainly web contents) have been developed. A user can select a desired device from, for example, a desktop PC (Personal Computer), a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet PC, a slate PC, a smart TV, a feature phone, a DAP (Digital Audio Player), a video game machine, and the like for viewing contents. On the other hand, a content reproduction environment has continuously been diversified, and content that can be appropriately reproduced in one reproduction environment may fail to be appropriately reproduced in another reproduction environment.
To deal with the diversified content reproduction environments, techniques have been proposed which enable content to be appropriately reproduced by adapting the content itself to the reproduction environment. One of these techniques is known as responsive web design.
For example, JavaScript provides functions called onOrientationChange and Viewport. Utilizing these functions to produce content allows a content reproducing apparatus to decide the display direction and display size of the content based on the direction, angle of view, size, and the like of a content display screen.
Furthermore, CSS3 provides a function called Media Queries. Utilizing this function to produce content allows the content reproducing apparatus to decide a style to be applied to the content based on the size and the like of the content display screen.
Moreover, HTML5 provides a function called Flexible Images. Utilizing this function to produce content allows the content reproducing apparatus to update the content based on a change in the size of the content display screen.
However, even the use of responsive design has difficulty producing content that can be adapted to all reproduction environments. For example, if content is reproduced in a reproduction environment totally different from a reproduction environment expected to be present during the design of the content, a problem may occur. Thus, production of content adaptable to all reproduction environments needs sufficient knowledge of the content reproducing apparatus and an application for content reproduction (for example, a web browser) as well as an advanced design technique and a sophisticated production flow. Moreover, the design may need to be modified to adapt the content to a newly developed content reproducing apparatus and a newly developed application for content reproduction. Thus, when responsive design is utilized to produce content, a heavy burden is placed on a content producer.
Thus, in general, contents with different designs are produced for respective types of content reproducing apparatuses or respective types of applications for content reproduction. Such a production technique allows the content producer to produce contents with particular designs for particular types of content reproducing apparatuses or particular types of application, reducing the burden associated with the production of content, compared to responsive design. Upon receiving an acquisition request for content, a content providing apparatus (for example, a web server) can determine the type of the content reproducing apparatus or the type of the application based on the acquisition request and select and provide content with the appropriate design. Individual addresses are assigned to the contents with different designs. However, the acquisition request need not contain the address of content with the desired design but may contain a common address for the contents with the different designs. If the types of the content reproducing apparatuses or the types of applications are different from expected types, the content providing apparatus may fail to provide content with the appropriate design.
An example of a measure against this problem involves producing contents for a large number of types of content reproducing apparatuses or a large number of types of applications. However, such a measure increases the total amount of contents produced, resulting in a heavier burden on the content producer or web server operator.
Furthermore, a technique is known which enables invocation of a process from a content reproducing application (for example, a web browser), the process being carried out by an application or a function different from the content reproducing application (that is, an external process). One of these techniques is a uniform resource locator (URL) schema.
The URL schema is associated with an application or a function. The association is carried out, for example, during initial setting for the web browser or during installation of the application. For example, when the content reproducing apparatus reproduces a web page using the web browser, selection of a URL schema “mailto:” contained in the web page causes the web browser to initiate mail software.
However, content with a URL schema is produced on the assumption that the application or function initiated by the URL schema is provided in the content reproducing apparatus. Hence, for example, if content produced for one content reproducing apparatus is reproduced by another content reproducing apparatus, a situation is expected in which the corresponding application or function fails to be activated even by selecting the URL schema contained in the content because the application or function is not provided in the content reproducing apparatus.